Bulldogs digging in to help cancer research

Capalaba Bulldogs players, officials and fans are hoping to top the $15,000 mark at the fifth staging of the club’s big charity fundraiser Pink Day this weekend.

Starting on Friday night with some Capital League matches, the club’s John Frederick Park is set to host about 20 football matches to raise funds for research into cancer.

The Capalaba Pink Day weekend covers games at club headquarters over three days involving men, women and junior fixtures, headed by Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL) and National Premier Leagues Women’s Queensland (NPLW) matches.

“We have raised almost $15,000 for each of the past two years and we want to better that amount this time,” said Capalaba’s NPLW technical director and former committeeman Shaun McAney.

All money raised will be donated to breast cancer research, prostate cancer research and the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

“It started as a one-off women’s match after one of our coach’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer,” McAney said.

“We did a game for the single women’s team we had but it has gone on from there as more and more people got involved.”

Three fields will be operating across the three days, ranging from the junior girls and boys up to the state league men’s and women’s teams.

All sorts of activities are planned and a special raffle prize will be an Australian Matildas jersey donated by Brisbane Roar’s Emily Gielnik, Capalaba’s strength and conditioning coach who runs a gym across the road from the club.

The feature matches for the Pink Day weekend are Capalaba v Mitchelton FC (FQPL) on Saturday night at 6pm and Capalaba v Mitchelton (NPLW) on Sunday afternoon at 5pm.

The Bulldogs men are currently eighth on the FQPL ladder after seven wins this season and the women are ninth in the NPLW after nine wins.